Electronic systems used to store and manipulate so-called personal data, such as addresses and phone numbers of contacts, schedules of meetings, “to-do” items, memos, attachments sent or received with correspondence, audio/visual data, etc., have come into wide acceptance and are widely used. Many of these electronic systems are commonly used stationary electronic or computer systems that typically have access to a steady external source of power, such as “desktop” or personal computer systems, as well as notebook computer systems that are “docked.” Such stationary systems usually run software that either maintains such personal data on the stationary system, itself, or remotely accesses such personal data where it is stored on another more centralized system (typically a server system in a corporate environment). However, many of the rest of these electronic systems are commonly used portable electronic or computer systems that usually do not have access to a steady external source of power, such as “handheld” or “tablet” devices, including what are often called “personal data assistants” or PDAs, and notebook computer systems that are not “docked.” Such portable systems usually rely on a portable power source, such as a battery, and run software that maintains such personal data locally on the portable system, itself.
It has become commonplace for user's of such electronic systems to use both stationary and portable systems to maintain and manipulate their personal data. In answer to this, many of such portable and stationary systems have been provided with hardware and software needed for a user to link them together at various times so that the personal data on each system can be shared (i.e., transmitted between them) and updated to reflect recent changes to the personal data on the other system. This process of sharing and updating personal data is referred to variously as “synchronizing,” “synchronization” or “hot-syncing.” Also, the increasing acceptance of such electronic systems has resulted in users storing ever more information on both their stationary and portable systems. In answer to this, even the smallest and most portable of handheld and credit-card forms of such electronic systems are being offered with ever increasing amounts of memory.
However, as the amount of data kept by users on such electronic systems has continued to increase, so has the amount of data that must be shared and updated whenever a user links such electronic systems together for synchronization. This, in turn, increases the amount of time required to perform synchronization and/or the speed at which data is accessed and transferred to allow synchronization to take place relatively quickly. Both this increase in the amount of data being shared and updated, and this increase in time and/or speed requires an increase in the amount of power used by each electronic system during synchronization.
For stationary systems with their ready access to an external steady power supply (usually provided by simply plugging such systems into a convenient wall socket to obtain standard AC power), such increased power requirements rarely pose a problem. However, for portable systems that often have access to nothing more than the limited power that can be stored in a battery, such increased power requirements can adversely affect the usability of such portable systems. By drawing sufficient power to carry out synchronization that a portable system may be unable to perform much in the way of subsequent functions until the user has taken the time to recharge or otherwise replenish the rather limited power source available to such a portable system. Also, performing a full synchronization may draw enough power that an electronic system with access to only limited power and which is designed to enter a low power state to conserve power, may do so in the middle of a full synchronization.